GIBC Digital is not leaving the country, stresses CEO

GIBC Digital released a statement yesterday explaining that the company has had to undergo an extreme downsizing because it overestimated the demand for work. Its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Greg Wood said in the statement that despite the challenges with business, it will not be leaving the country.

Guardian Business reported yesterday that GIBC closed its physical office on Grand Bahama, and has only three Bahamians remaining under its employ.

In the statement, Wood explained that the company downsized to meet the current demands of business.

“Developing business in The Bahamas continues to be a challenge and we have had to make adjustments, as businesses do,” Wood said.
“We overestimated demand for the transformative work we do and unfortunately, we’ve had to reduce staff to align with current demand, but the suggestion that we are leaving is simply not true.”

This paper reported that the remaining GIBC staff are working remotely.

GIBC came into the country under the Commercial Enterprises Act and right out of the gate began to hire and train 25 Bahamians, with the commitment to train and hire another 25 in specialized services, including automation, data intelligence, customer experience, regulation and compliance.

Early last month it was reported that GIBC Digital parted ways with seven of its staff members, making it the second round of layoffs in a little more than a month.

In February, GIBC, which built up its business on Grand Bahama last year, released half of its staff.

That month, Minister of Labour Dion Foulkes, who said he should be kept apprised of any layoffs in The Bahamas by employers, said he knew nothing of the layoffs. Calls to Foulkes and Acting Director of Labour John Pinder went unanswered yesterday.

GIBC Digital said in a press release in February that media reports of it having laid off several people “took the company by surprise”, though it did not refute the claim, only noting that it parted ways with some senior employees.

In the press release, Wood said that business had been “slower than expected” for the company, but he restated the company’s commitment to Grand Bahama and promised there is “no cause for concern”.

“Business has been slower than expected, and we have had to make adjustments,” said Wood.

While not stating that layoffs occurred, Wood explained in the statement that the company had to part ways with senior workers whose values didn’t align with the company’s values.

“We have replaced them with an all-Bahamian leadership team and are now on track to meet our targets for 2019,” he noted.

Chester Robards rejoined The Nassau Guardian in November 2017 as a senior business reporter. He has covered myriad topics and events for The Nassau Guardian.Education: Florida International University, BS in Journalism